How much will a 1970 SWB landrover tow?

[aquaplane]

The Series will pull your boat easily. Stopping may be difficult so a slow top speed is prudent.

My 110Hp Pug 406 estate was rated at 1500Kg capacity and it towed my 20' trailsailer OK. My Disco 300 Tdi with about 90Hp is rated at 3500Kg with over run brakes on the trailer and that was so much easier to tow the same boat with. It's not just the power of the tug, it's the stability of the rig that matters. Having said that, the Disco pulled the boat over the rest and be thankfull (A83, Ardgarten to Cairndow, Old Military road) at 40mph in 3rd and the temp gauge never budged. Going down the other side the brakes worked just as hard as the engine on the way up.

 

[Jim@sea]

Its not how much it will legally tow you have to worry about its if you would get paid out by an Insurance Company if you have an accident towing a boat.
An absence of a Manufacturers Towing Weight Plate would make an Insurance Company Loss Assessors day. You certainly would not get paid out. (Did I mention that I used to work for an Insurance Company)

 

[penfold]

Have some practical experience, albeit in a slightly more modern LR; I recently fetched a load of concrete slabs with my 110, the max allowable in the back(~1400kg, can't remember exactly) and a fully laden unbraked trailer. Braking on hills was interesting and there was occasionally a bit of weaving due to the short drawbar on the trailer and road irregularities, but I felt quite safe trundling along at 45 on an A road. Using engine braking, braking early and generally paying attention to what's going on in front spared any drama, even when the exhaust decided it didn't want to play anymore and made a bid for freedom going past duckbay on the A82. Doing the same again I'd want a trailer with longer drawbar with overrun-brakes. I later discovered I'd done the trip with knackered front brakes, so a series with freshly serviced drums should be fine with due care paid to stopping distance. Perhaps get a brake servo fitted to ease pedal pressure, kits are available for series LRs.

I did also tow a Sonata 100 miles to Stranraer to get the ferry across for the Snotty nationals at Strangford and the same again to Dundee; being on a correctly sized braked trailer the only noticable things were the lack of acceleration and the big white thing bobbing around in the rearview mirror, it was dead easy. Provided you are not in a hurry and can live with the noise and lack of ergonomics it will do most towing jobs fine.

'Black' towing; I have seen a S&S 34 being towed a fair distance by a series, but it was a long time ago and definitely not legal then or now! Looking at the rules and my handbook, if I had airbrakes fitted I could tow up to 4 tonnes with the 110.

A hardtop can be got for maybe £100 for a scruffy usable one(or free; truckcabs seem to be worth more at the moment so you may be able to swap), full length roofrack will be more expensive to come by. I prefer truckcabs as you get some benefit from the heater in winter! Any particular reason for wanting a hardtop? They do restrict visibility a lot.

A 1970 series as you describe with a galvy chassis would probably fetch 2k-2.5k on ebay unless a crazy bidding war developed.

Knowing Landies I would guess your biggest issue would be cooling especially on long slow hills, budget for an aftermarket electric fan kit to be safe.

Cooling will not be a problem unless something's not right; the standard radiator and mechanical fan is sized for delivering power to the PTO while stationary, it's vastly overspecced for UK driving.

Was that it's top speed? I would hope to maintain 50 on the flat with trailer, otherwise I would be a nuisance on the road.

You probably can on the flat but the M74 is not flat anywhere! The only fast fully laden LRs have V8s and big fuel bills.

 

[ProDave]

Thanks again for more helpful input.

The reason for a hard top is I want to use it as a van with tools and stuff in the back. A canvas tilt would give no security whatsoever to anything in there. I would probably fit it out with racking. And the reason for a roof rack is to carry ladders, my longest set is 4.5 metres long. I might just get away with ladder bars on the hard top, but they wouldn't be very far apart on a shortie so that's why I was more thinking of a full roof rack.

Yes I know they are not built for speed, but the old 2A LWB I had years ago would do 70 (eventually), if your teeth could take the vibration, and the door tops took on an annoying wobble in the wind turbulance It was also interesting keeping it in a straight line at that speed. 50 was more comfortable. I found the overdrive pretty much essential so would fit one if I buy this.

 

[Croak]

Wikipedia says series 3 started production in 1971!

 

[ProDave]

Wikipedia says series 3 started production in 1971!

I've not seen the logbook. so either this one is a 1971 early S3, or it's a 2B that's been given a S3 makeover. It definitely has the S3 interior.

 

[Zagato]

Hi Dave, I have no time to answer your questions properly - as you have said just don't expect to go fast In the meantime join the Series2club forum to get thorough correct advise, they can tell you about the 3rd gear etc, your truck cab is worth about £50 -75, hard tops easy to find!

My 1962 IIA 2.25 used to pull this, she is on light duties only now, it was slow hard work for her and me!!

She will be up for sale once put through a fresh MOT, original engine, chassis etc. New rocky mountain parabolic suspension, never let me down in 3 years daily driving, serviced by Dunsfold DLR. Series 3's less sought after and thus cheaper, less of an investment also. I would wait for a nice SeriesII to come along before Leyland got involved - as said check the bulkhead and especially around the heater inlets they rot from inside out and nightmare to fix or get replacement bits - get a nice S2 instead, better build etc Your looking at 2-3K for a good one, going up to 5k for top notch and 10K plus through the trade for a fully rebuilt one, everything reconned or new. However some really good one go through the club for around 1K -1.5K

My 1968 IIA top end rebuild, 5.5K to get it to this level everything new or reconditioned, now sold! This is an example which sells for about 12- 14K through the trade.

 

[fastjedi]

My parents had a 1972 2.25L SWB hard top (early S3) from new with the high compession head, freewheeling hubs and overdrive. It would happily tow our caravan (18 cwt laden) @ 70mph and would see over 80 mph indicated when not towing .... but that was when petrol was 30p a gallon! If I remember rightly you left all the noise behind above 70mph ... they suddenly go quiet. It was 100% reliable except for the little nylon ball on the end of the gear lever that engages with the gearbox selector!

However, about 10 years ago I bought a Series 2 with Ford V6 Essex engine. Despite changing just about everything in the steering system it was terrifying above 60 mph, especially on a bumpy road.

 

[penfold]

However, about 10 years ago I bought a Series 2 with Ford V6 Essex engine. Despite changing just about everything in the steering system it was terrifying above 60 mph, especially on a bumpy road.

Veering off topic but sounds like castor angle needs adjusting, needs new steering damper or possibly railco bushes on the hubs aren't set right/worn out.

 

[rotrax]

I worked in a garage for some time that had a SWB series 2 with a crane and A bar for recovery. A collegue went to lift and tow a Bentley. He got ir all hitched up, put it in gear, pulled away, hit a speed bump and the front wheels came up and it sat on its arse! I had one with bad steering-one of the railko bushes was siezed tight. After disconnecting the track rods the O/S wheel moved easily, the N/S in a series of jerks. Stripping out, cleaning and lubeing fixed it OK. If you go for it,as others have said,watch the anchors...................

 

[Clarky]

Soms of the replies here are a bit out of touch with recent legislation in terms of driver licensing and vehicle categories. Please remember the total gross weight of your vehicle includes the trailer and load, if you exceed what your are licensed to drive that means, no licence and therefore no insurance, if that also involves an accident with injury then serious issues could result in terms of your liberty.

 

[penfold]

I can't comment for the OP, but I passed my test before the law changed(1/1/1997) and my licence allows towing up to a GTW(or MAM as they now call it) of 8.25 tonnes.